Apple iPod Remote

[The Robman]

Back in 2005 ...

Nice to know that you have such firm control over those kids!

Wait until your kids become teenagers!

Now my kids are 11 and 13, and they both have iPods. In fact, my 13 year old is on his second as he lost his first one.

[The Robman]

Thanks, I'll give that a try! Ideally, I'd want that as a macro, but I have to brush up on how to do that with the 2116 Extender 2. I seem to recall something about device-specific macros, which I guess I'd need, since Play and Pause do other things in TiVo mode, DVD mode, etc.

It will be interesting to see if the macro works. The original signal doesn't have any "repeat pattern" inbetween the first 2 parts, whereas the macro will. If the macro doesn't work, we may need to create a custom executor to make it work.

[Jobius]

Thanks, I'll give that a try! Ideally, I'd want that as a macro, but I have to brush up on how to do that with the 2116 Extender 2. I seem to recall something about device-specific macros, which I guess I'd need, since Play and Pause do other things in TiVo mode, DVD mode, etc.

It will be interesting to see if the macro works. The original signal doesn't have any "repeat pattern" inbetween the first 2 parts, whereas the macro will. If the macro doesn't work, we may need to create a custom executor to make it work.

The macro works fine. I put OBC 95 on the Stop button (could/should have used a phantom key) and used the MISC/1103 Device Specific Macro protocol that came with the 2116 Extender 2. The macro is just Stop, Select. I put the macro on Play and Pause, and it behaves just like the Play/Pause button on the original remote. I didn't bother with OBC 92 ("part 1" of the original remote's Select sequence) because OBC 5 ("part 2") seems to work just like the original Select even without it.

Thanks so much for ten years (!) worth of help with this stuff!

[The Robman]

Great, glad it works, and you're welcome!

[Jobius]

It will be interesting to see if the macro works. The original signal doesn't have any "repeat pattern" inbetween the first 2 parts, whereas the macro will. If the macro doesn't work, we may need to create a custom executor to make it work.

The macro works fine. I put OBC 95 on the Stop button (could/should have used a phantom key) and used the MISC/1103 Device Specific Macro protocol that came with the 2116 Extender 2. The macro is just Stop, Select. I put the macro on Play and Pause, and it behaves just like the Play/Pause button on the original remote. I didn't bother with OBC 92 ("part 1" of the original remote's Select sequence) because OBC 5 ("part 2") seems to work just like the original Select even without it.

Update for any other Apple TV 2 users who may be out there. The latest iOS version for the Apple TV (version 4.4) doesn't work with the old Select code (OBC 005 alone).

I had to make a new Device Specific Macro for Select, which sends OBC 092, then 0BC 005. That's got it working now.

[Jobius]

Hmm... spoke too soon. The macro works to "click" down through the menus, but when you get to an input field where you use the arrow to pick a letter Ouija-board style and then use Select to pick it... you get double letters.

OBC 092 alone works better. A custom executor would probably be even better (and match the original remote), but 092 is okay for now.

[vickyg2003]

Jobius about 2 years ago I was working with tildajones on some XBMC stuff for this apple TV device. Tilda apparently abandoned the project.

I don't know much about XBMC, and I don't know if they ever got the Apple XBMC working but I think this thread might be of some interest to you.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewt ... highlight=

[eferz]

Wow. I noticed there was quite a few Apple related remotes in the file section: http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... ords=Apple

I figured might as well record the IR signals from the LHD device profile: http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=10028

Also, I found a little article about Apple REmote IDs http://www.filewell.com/iRedLite/downlo ... oteIDs.pdf

These little tidbits were interesting,

• "This feature is basis of the not-too-well-known function of "pairing remotes" with your Mac. Imagine, you have more than one Mac and want to control either one with a respective Apple Remote. To achieve this, Apple implemented "pairing" which is a little bit hidden in Apple's user guides (Open Mac Help and search for "pairing"). The technical background to accomplish this: every Apple Remote has an identifier within a range from 0 to 255."
• "There's another caveat: the Apple Remote does IR code repeating a little bit special: the first code, say "left" or "right" is a specific IR code, of course. The "repeat" code, though, is similar for all buttons! So if you incidentally teach the repeater code to your PRC, you are stuck."

Hope it helps someone.

[3FG]

The protocols.ini file included in DecodeIR version 2.43 has protocol executors labeled Apple (Official) and Apple. The official version assumes a PairID of 0, while the latter allows one to specify the PairID, and also whether to automatically send 18 repeats, which may be useful for emulating long button presses.

Regarding the "special" signal for repeats, Apple uses the framing of the ubiquitous NEC1 IR protocol, but defines the individual bits differently. So repeats are sent with dittos. This ditto behavior is common to perhaps half of all equipment using IR signals-- NEC1 is that pervasive.

[eferz]

The protocols.ini file included in DecodeIR version 2.43 has protocol executors labeled Apple (Official) and Apple. The official version assumes a PairID of 0, while the latter allows one to specify the PairID, and also whether to automatically send 18 repeats, which may be useful for emulating long button presses.

Regarding the "special" signal for repeats, Apple uses the framing of the ubiquitous NEC1 IR protocol, but defines the individual bits differently. So repeats are sent with dittos. This ditto behavior is common to perhaps half of all equipment using IR signals-- NEC1 is that pervasive.

Wait a sec... DecodeIR? Does that mean that I should have seen Apple as the protocol instead of the Gap numbers when I recorded the signals through IR Scope? And what do I need to update in order to have those protocols available with RemoteMaster/RMIR?

[3FG]

DecodeIR 2.43
To make IRscope use 2.43, copy the dll to the IRScope directory. Of course you'll want to look at DecodeIR.html, because that's where the details of IR protocols are explained.

To actually make an upgrade using any of the various newly added protocols, you need to change to the included protocols.ini file and add a class to the RemoteMaster.jar file. Directions are in the readme.

When RMIR 2.02 is released, it will include the relevant contents of the 2.43 distribution.

[Jobius]

Last week, the Apple TV informed me that an OS upgrade was available, so I let it install. Now the macro I'd been using for Play and Pause isn't working. It's acting like I hit the play/pause button twice, so it stutters and then goes back to whatever state it was in before (playing or paused).

I'll try to figure out how to fix it, but if anyone has suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. The Apple remote works fine, and I'm pretty sure it's sending the same signals it did when I uploaded this dump a year and a half ago:

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=9675

Rob decoded that in this thread on May 24, 2011, and found the two-signal sequence for Play, which I turned into a macro.